Confluence Welcomes New Co-Director Jasmine Graves

Workers Confluence is excited to announce Jasmine Graves as our new Co-Director!

Jasmine brings a wealth of experience and knowledge from her years of experience working in both labor and community settings, including with SEIU Healthcare, St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, and New Justice Project of Minnesota.

Jasmine reflected on the perspective she brings to her new position at Workers Confluence In this interview, first published in the March 2026 print issue of the Minneapolis Labor Review (edited lightly for length and clarity):

How did you get started in union work?

I actually came into the labor movement through membership. Many years ago, when I was a home care worker and learned we had recently won a union, I joined. Later, when I was having wages stolen from me, I went to my union. From there, I got involved. I did my first press conference and kind of fell in love with what labor was doing for working families — especially after seeing it protect my rights as a worker. I ended up applying for a job at SEIU Healthcare and became a union organizer, helping to support bargaining for the second homecare worker contract in the state.

Since then, I’ve been in a lot of places in labor. I spent some time working at the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation as a political organizer, helped launch a pilot program at the Minnesota AFL-CIO, and served as a director at New Justice Project.

I am really proud to say that I got to be a part of Restore the Vote because it allowed justice-impacted people — 55,000 people in Minnesota — to be able to vote. That win made Minnesota an even stronger democracy. Our community is capable of big wins because we don’t shy away from talking about the ecosystem of labor, power, capital, people, and community.

How have you approached organizing? 

With my time and labor in these roles, I tried to weave the thread between community and labor, emphasizing justice-impacted folks, and consistently asked what it looked like for labor to show up for communities that are left out. Racial justice is an important cornerstone of my work.

Workers Confluence bridges the gap between community and labor, cultivating real relationships intentionally, not being transactional. Because of the relationships being cultivated, I think it’s made Minnesota’s ability to show up for each other more powerful. At this moment we’re in with the federal occupation, we’re seeing these supportive networks in action.

One of the biggest things for me as an organizer is to be curious about people, about their backgrounds, who they are, where they come from; be curious to understand different perspectives and aspects of not just how to move the work forward, but how different communities function. When I think about organizing and about this new role, I want to stay curious and grounded. I don’t know at all, but I’m willing to learn. I’m willing to understand.

This interview has been edited lightly for clarity and length. It was first published in the Minneapolis Labor Review March 2026 print issue.